This invention relates generally to sports devices designed for sharpening skills involving swinging at a ball while it is midair. More specifically, the present invention relates to a device which allows a baseball player to practice batting in a relatively confined space.
It is generally agreed that the most important factors in hitting a baseball well are timing, watching the ball and knowing the strike zone. Like any other sport, baseball requires constant practice. However, it is difficult in many cases for a batter to get as much practice as he needs to become really proficient. Even after a baseball player has acquired a level swing and developed a level of proficiency at batting, his batting skills must be continuously reinforced in order that the player maintain the best batting record during competitive play.
Batting practice, of course, is a time-honored pre-game activity, and additional attention is devoted to it during most practice sessions. Pitching machines have made it possible for a baseball player to get more of the practice necessary to develop a proper stance and a good swing. In both cases, however, the practice sessions require not only the batting practice pitcher or the pitching machine, but a baseball diamond and outfielders to retrieve the batted balls.
In many situations it is desirable to provide some means for a ball player to work on his hitting, and particularly his stance and swing, in a limited or confined space and in a manner which does not require that the ball be retrieved after each swing. In an effort to provide such a practice system, a number of devices have been developed. Although these prior devices, which generally provide some type of support structure rigidly fixed to a wall, fence or pole and which support a tethered ball, perform generally satisfactorily when use as intended, they each suffer drawbacks which make them less than ideal for routine, everyday use by individuals and baseball teams. For example, many of the prior baseball batting practice devices must be rigidly fixed to a wall or fence prior to use in a manner which makes it virtually impossible to conveniently set up the practice device when needed, take it down after the batting practice and then transport the practice device to another location.
Accordingly, there has been a need for a novel baseball batting practice device which can be quickly and easily mounted to and removed from chain link fences which typically surrounding portions of baseball fields. Additionally, such a novel batting practice device is needed which may be configured to fit within standard baseball equipment bags for transport from one location to another. Moreover, a baseball batting practice device is needed which, after it is placed onto a wall or fence, may be adjusted to meet the needs of a particular batter. The present invention fulfills these needs and provides other related advantages.